Acute Psychiatric Unit Reopens
The Ministry of Health & Wellness has announced the reopening of its Acute Psychiatric Unit at the Western Regional Hospital in Belmopan. The unit was closed due to challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The unit was established to provide services to mentally ill patients who become acutely ill and cannot be managed at home. We stopped by the Unit in Belmopan today where we spoke with Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, Anne Link.
Anne Link
Anne Link, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, APU
“As a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner we have outreach programs that we involve in, which those individuals that are not able to come to the hospital to get help, we try and reach out to them in the different areas of the country, including Valley of Peace, we have also other districts where they do the same thing. We don’t like to necessarily label psychiatric patients. We have individuals that are having difficulty in managing their daily living. So, in this case we just try and reach out to individual with mental health disorders, rather than just patients in general with psychiatric issues. For example, individuals that have lost a family member, we don’t just say that is a psychiatric patient. It is normal to grieve. But sometimes individuals are not able to move on as any other person, so we are here to guide them through that person. Just as anyone would have symptoms at home as if something is off, I am not able to sleep. I am not able to eat. I am just not feeling well. They just come to the hospital. Now in general, with someone that is seeking mental health care, in general the person is observed, a lot of time the family observes them as well, they are sleeping majority of the time. They are not able to complete their work. They are withdrawn and not doing the things they are use to. In those cases those individuals are brought in by family. In other cases, when we are doing our fairs we try and promote mental health and that way they can reach out to us and we call them and look for them as well.”
